He's a blatantly partisan moron for acting like reclassifying cannabis from one category of controlled drug to a less extreme category of controlled drug somehow endangers kids in public spaces.
It's completely disingenuous and that nonsense is really aggravating. He's acting like Trump is going to make it legal to smoke reefer on the street in front of a kindergarten and any intellectually honest person would know that's just not what's happening.
If Big Pharma wants to use marijuana in medicines (not just synthetics, THC, or CBD) they are free to do so - but currently only with a certain strain. FDA will have to be required to do their "studies and research" and knock off the stupid stuff about not knowing the safety of the plant, or the "effective dose". Hire a dozen tokers, give them doritos, and let them smoke. Then more strains can be opened up for pharmaceutical use.
The patents don't matter because it is similar to not being able to patent drinking water in a liquid medicine. The patent is for the complete formula (most of the time) - not for individual ingredients. A pill could have MJ in it but it would have other ingredients designed to speed up or slow down absorption, maybe they find a way to localize the effect (headaches for example), or they make the effects stronger or weaker. It could also have other drugs like Lipitor, or some cancer drug - you get the picture. The whole pill is patented - not the individual ingredient unless it is synthesized.
They will certainly find a way to make money on MJ, and will try to make consumers believe it is better than just smoking/vaping the plant.
Here's an interesting story on what Big Pharma does with patents. Provigil (brand name of modafinil) is used for narcolepsy, excessive daytime sleepiness, and for pilots to stay awake on long missions up to 40 hours. I have also taken it for decades now. When it came time for the patent to expire (after a couple of extensions) the drug maker changed a couple of things in the chemical makeup and called it Nuvigil. Same stuff, does the same thing, and the drugs are interchangeable. Nuvigil has a different dose because of the change, and can in some cases last longer. I alternate every 2 years or so myself. The changes allowed the company to continue making big money on the brand while generics came out for Provigil. Note - the original cost for Provigil was between $1800 and $3000 for a 90 day supply. Big Pharma are bastards.
Both are generic now - modafinil and armodafinil.